Methods, systems, and computer program products for locating and tracking objects

A system for monitoring, locating and tracking cargo, the system comprising:

• a measuring device configured to detect a condition of cargo in a shipping container co-located with the measuring device;
• and
• a communications module co-located with the cargo and configured to wirelessly communicate over a first wireless network to a first remote device that is operable to communicate to a second remote device over a second wireless network, wherein the first wireless network is a short-range wireless network and the second wireless network is a long-range wireless network, the communications module comprising:
• a locating device configured to determine a location of the measuring device;
• a tracking module configured to store tracking information associated with the measuring device;
• an RFID module configured to store identification information associated with the measuring device, the RFID module comprising
• one or more RFID interrogators,
• wherein each RFID interrogator is located at a pre-determined location and is associated with a pre-determined communication range,
• wherein each RFID interrogator is configured to detect an RFID tag associated with the cargo when the RFID tag is located within the communications range of one of the one or more RFID interrogators,
• wherein, upon detecting the RFID tag, each RFID interrogator is configured to communicate the identification information to the communications module, and
• wherein the second remote device is configured to maintain a history of at least one of the location information and the condition received from the communications module.